Netherlands VWO 2 (onderbouw) Biology
Chapters: 2
1. Living nature and research
Doing research on living nature · Key concepts of living nature · Cells, organs and diversity (adopted, legal 2027)
- The Scientific Method – The scientific method is the careful way scientists find out how the world works. Observe something, ask a testable question, make a hypothesis (a clear, testable guess), test it with a fair experiment (change one variable, measure one, keep the rest the same), repeat and record data, analyse it, draw a conclusion and share it so others can check. Results that fail the test are useful too: they send you back to a new hypothesis.
- The Cell: Basic Unit of Life – Every living thing is made of cells. Robert Hooke first saw cells in cork in 1665. Cells are prokaryotic (no true nucleus, like bacteria) or eukaryotic (true nucleus). Plant cells have a cell wall, chloroplasts and a big vacuole; animal cells do not. Each organelle has a job. Water enters and leaves cells by osmosis. Cells make new cells by mitosis (growth) and meiosis (sex cells).
2. Organisms and environment
Interactions with the environment · Ecosystems (adopted, legal 2027)
- Ecosystem, Food Chains and Energy Flow – An ecosystem is all the living things in a place plus the non-living things around them, working together. Energy enters as sunlight, passes one way up a food chain, and only about 10% moves to each next level.